


Naraku no Shūen

by Starrie_Wolf



Category: Bleach, Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Video Game World, BAMF Ichigo, BAMF Urahara, Crossover, Crossover Bingo, Don't copy to another site, Fullbringer arc ending rewrite, Gen, Sorry Kirito there's someone with a stronger protagonist halo, UraIchi Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24367480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: It’s been seventeen months, two weeks, and four days since he lost his shinigami powers.Seventeen months, one week, and six days since he bought his first VR NetGear with the money he’d saved up from his part-time job, trying to find a semblance of normalcy, do something a normal teenage boy would.Sixteen months, three weeks, and three days since he was standing in that courtyard alongside hundreds of thousands of people, listening to Kayaba Akihiko’s announcement that they were all now trapped in a death game.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo & Gotei 13 | 13 Court Guard Squads, Kurosaki Ichigo & Urahara Kisuke
Comments: 62
Kudos: 631
Collections: Crossover Bingo, UraIchi Week 2020





	Naraku no Shūen

**Author's Note:**

> Naraku no Shūen i.e. The End of Hell
> 
> Hello guess what I am capable of writing genfic for UraIchi Week.

It’s been seventeen months, two weeks, and four days since he lost his shinigami powers.

Seventeen months, one week, and six days since he bought his first VR NetGear with the money he’d saved up from his part-time job, trying to find a semblance of normalcy, do something a normal teenage boy would.

Sixteen months, three weeks, and three days since he was standing in that courtyard alongside hundreds of thousands of people, listening to Kayaba Akihiko’s announcement that they were all now trapped in a death game.

One and a half years, and they were only three-quarters through Aincrad.

“Ah, Ichigo!”

At the sound of his name, Ichigo turns around to see a couple of familiar faces gathered around the dungeon entrance. “Man,” Klein says, rubbing the back of his head, “they’ve really called in everybody for this boss fight, haven’t they?”

Ichigo shrugs, leaning against the wall. It’s the usual crowd, from what he can see. A few platoons from the Knights of the Blood, couple of the smaller regular frontline guilds… Klein’s right, Heathcliff has really called in a lot more people than he usually bothered with.

“Hey, Kirito! Asuna!”

Ichigo nods amicably at the other two Clearers when they come over to greet Klein. They’re both teenagers, and highly-skilled for their age – never mind that _Ichigo_ is their age. It’s not everybody who has been embroiled in a shinigami war.

“We’re starting,” he warns, pushing off the wall to join the others in front of the doors.

After today, it’ll be seventy-five floors down, twenty-five left to go.

* * *

“Eh,” somebody finally breaks the silence. Ichigo thinks it’s Klein, but he can’t be sure right now. Everything’s a bit of a blur. “How many did we lose?”

“Fourteen people,” someone else answers.

Ichigo closes his eyes. Fourteen dead, out of forty fighters total. That’s a third of their elite right there. At this rate, they’re not even going to make it to the final boss.

His hand clenches around not-quite-Zangetsu, wishing he could feel its reassuring hum, but alas. Even if he named this custom-made blade Zangetsu and built it as close to the real Zangetsu’s specifications as he could, in the end it’s still just a piece of in-game equipment and not his real zanpakutō.

“Kirito-kun!”

Ichigo’s eyes snap open at the sound of Asuna’s voice, but he’s facing the wrong direction, and therefore too slow to react in anything more than dismayed horror when Kirito runs Heathcliff through.

Or… would have run him through.

**IMMORTAL OBJECT** , announces the text box above Heathcliff’s head in damning purple pixels.

Immortal… so, a system-generated object?

Heathcliff is a _non-player character_? But no, that can’t be. Ichigo’s seen how the other NPCs in _Sword Art Online_ act, and Heathcliff doesn’t follow a rote script. Which means…

“Indeed, I am Kayaba Akihiko. I was supposed to be the final boss, the one waiting for you on the top floor.”

Kayaba. The reason why they’re all stuck in this death game. The reason why tens of thousands of people have died, and hundred-thousands more are trapped, waiting for their little band of less than a hundred frontline Clearers to get them home.

Not-truly-Zangetsu vibrates in his grip, and it takes Ichigo a moment to realise he’s trembling.

The final boss. The one they have to defeat to clear this game. He’s in front of them right now, which means –

He chokes as static runs through his body, immobilising him, like somebody has cast a combination of _Tsuzuri Raiden_ and _Sai_. His fingers spasm, muscles screaming, but he manages to keep a hold of his sword.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo can just barely make out his health bar, which now has a little lightning-shock symbol next to it. _Paralysis_ , the system announces, as if he hasn’t figured it out already.

“Kirito-kun, I must reward you for figuring out my true identity. I’ll give you a chance to fight me one-on-one. If you win, the game will be cleared, and every player will be able to log out. What do you say?”

Ichigo can tell what Kirito’s answer will be without even looking at Kirito. That boy… he’s got the same drive Ichigo recognises in Renji, in Hisagi, in Inoue, in _himself_.

The drive to protect, to save others.

The way Kirito speaks sends a chill down Ichigo’s spine. Those are not the words of someone who’s certain of their victory – those are the words of somebody who thinks he’s about to die.

_If you swing your sword, “I’ll cut them.”_

_If you’re standing in front of someone, “I won’t let them die.”_

This isn’t a duel, and Kayaba’s not the kind of man who plans to let them off easy. In this death match, with that kind of uncertainty in his heart, Kirito’s already dead.

Ichigo grits his teeth, finally managing to raise his head, just enough to watch the train wreck going on. Kirito is _good_ , but his swings are wide and erratic, all semblance of strategy torn asunder by emotion. Kayaba’s just toying with him.

He’s going to lose.

Screw that. That’s not who he is. Ichigo’s not going to lie back and watch somebody else die in front of him ever again. He closes his eyes, shutting out what’s going on. If he doesn’t look, it’s just like being bound by _Sai_ – and Ichigo has been able to get out of _Sai_ since he was fifteen and still completely human. _If I dodge,_ he thinks viciously, _I won’t let them cut me. If I fight, I won’t let them bind me. If I believe, I can save –_

Metal shatters, and shards of a broken sword clatter to the floor like rain.

“Farewell, Kirito-kun.”

Scarlet light shoots down Kayaba’s sword, lighting it up as his Sword Skill charges up.

_N O –_

Several things happen simultaneously.

Asuna leaps in front of Kirito, right in the path of Kayaba’s sword.

Ichigo rams his shoulder into Kirito, sending him flying, and he barely reacts fast enough to grab Asuna by the shoulder as well, even though he knows, he _knows_ it’s too late for her –

Ichigo lands painfully on the ground, Kirito and Asuna in tow. He lies there for a moment, wheezing, trying to convince his muscles to stop spasming long enough for him to get up.

Somewhere beside him, Asuna is choking, her hands clawing at her throat, but if she can make a noise it means she’s still alive. Kirito’s tending to her, so Ichigo leaves them to it.

“I don’t remember creating a way of letting you nullify paralysis on your own,” Kayaba muses out loud. He’s caught in a strange position, like he stopped his sword mid-swing for some reason. “Guess these things happen sometimes.”

Ichigo has no idea why he chose not to slash Asuna open, but he’s not inclined to give Kayaba the time to change his mind. His arms are still jerking oddly, the muscles stiff, but not-really-Zangetsu is the same familiar weight in his hands and Ichigo has never believed in giving up in the face of what seems to be impossible –

**IMMORTAL OBJECT**

Ichigo screams in frustration as he dodges Kayaba’s counter-attack. He was – they were – _so close_ –

Kayaba spits out a curse as his sword stops moving of its own accord. He yanks at it, but it’s as if his sword has become part of the scenery – and maybe it _has_.

**IMMOVABLE OBJECT** , announces the system when Kayaba continues trying to tug his sword free. **ERROR: OBJECT POSITION IS FIXED**.

“Why, hello there, Kayaba Akihiko-san~”

Ichigo freezes. It’s a good thing Kayaba can’t move either, or that moment of hesitation would’ve cost him dearly.

That voice. He knows that voice. Isn’t that –

A figure shimmers into view, rendered in translucent pixels, but Ichigo could _cry_ at the sight of the familiar green haori and even that stupid striped bucket hat.

When he turns, Ichigo can see he’s wearing a black earpiece, which clashes wildly with the rest of his traditional garb, and the sheer incongruity is enough to send him crashing back down to reality. Right. Kayaba Akihiko. _Sword Art Online_.

Urahara reaches for something Ichigo can’t see, his gaze going distant.

“Who are you?” Kayaba snarls, dropping his mask of harmlessness. He surveys the fallen players, but Kirito is still tending to Asuna and none of the rest seem to have been able to overcome the Paralysis status effect yet. “Well, the cat’s already out of the bag,” he mutters, apparently to himself, and then waves a hand to conjure up what is undoubtedly a GM’s console.

Urahara grins back, tugging his hat over his eyes. “Just a passing shopkeeper.” Mirroring Kayaba, he too waves his hand to pull up a black console screen.

Kayaba scowls, manifesting a keyboard with a horizontal sweep of his arm and settling his hands into position. Almost immediately, code begins scrolling down his screen. His brow furrows as he reads on, but he doesn’t look panicked.

“It’s been seventeen months,” he remarks as he begins to type. “I must commend you. I hadn’t expected anyone to be able to hack into the system for another two years yet.”

“Thank you.” Urahara dips his head in a semblance of politeness. “We had…” he pauses briefly, whether in hesitation or for emphasis Ichigo can’t tell, “ _extraordinary incentive_. If you would please, Kurosaki-san?”

Ichigo blinks, and then blinks again. “Huh?”

Urahara’s lips quirk up in the ghost of a grin. “Well,” he says drily, “given how easy it is to track down my path of entry, it would have been the height of foolishness to equip myself with a NerveGear and tempt Kayaba-san into manually overriding the remote detonation function.”

Right. Which is why Urahara’s avatar is translucent and floating several inches off the ground. He can’t interact with this virtual reality.

Kayaba glances over at Ichigo, and then snorts derisively. He types something on his console, and it’s like something freezes and unfreezes within Ichigo, his entire status bar shuddering with static. Ichigo grits his teeth and fights through the nausea, until it ends as abruptly as it began and he can open his eyes again.

Urahara too has increased his typing speed, eyes focused solely on his console screen now. Ichigo spares his status bar a brief look, but the array of debuff icons flickering on and off is too dizzying to focus on for long.

He looks over at the rest of the Clearers instead. Most of them are still twitching under the effects of Paralysis, barely able to move a muscle. Kirito is slumped over an unconscious Asuna, staring at the half-drunk bottle of healing potion in his hand like he’s too nauseous to keep drinking. His HP bar isn’t even a quarter full yet.

Looks like this part is going to be up to Ichigo. He shoves down the wave of dizziness, raises Zangetsu, and girds himself to spring.

Kayaba frowns. With a wave of his hand, three more console screens pop up in front of him. Almost immediately, Ichigo stumbles, his legs nearly giving way beneath him. He can’t – what is going on – sensations are cutting in and out randomly, like bugs crawling on his skin – no, under his skin – no, _slime_ –

Urahara’s hands are moving so fast they’re just a blur to Ichigo’s eyes, or maybe it’s his sight that’s going, given that everything is getting blurry.

_Kayaba_ , he thinks with the dredges of his fractured sanity. Kayaba’s applying weird status effects with his console, trying to keep Ichigo down. Ichigo can’t attack him if he can’t even stand.

Or so he would like to think. Ichigo digs his fingers into the cold hard floor, uses the pain to ground himself, and drags himself one agonising inch forwards. If he can’t run, he’ll walk. If he can’t walk, he’ll crawl. He’s already lost half of his very _soul_ , there is nothing Kayaba can do that can feel worse than that.

“Kurotsuchi-san, overclock it, please.”

_He’s figured it out_ , Ichigo thinks with dizzying relief. He puts his head down on the floor to rest for a moment, keeping his eyes on Urahara. A dozen, two dozen console screens flash into existence all around him, code flying past the screens like Urahara is staging a full theatre production all by himself.

“How – how can you be following all this?” Kayaba demands, slamming his hands down onto the keyboard. “You’re not even one of my developers!” There is the sound of more keys clicking, but unlike before, Ichigo doesn’t feel any different.

When Kayaba speaks again, there is a slight tremor in his voice. “Who are you, and how can you have access to more processing power than the entire _Sword Art Online_ network?”

Ichigo wonders if it’s one of Urahara’s crazy inventions again. He raises his head cautiously, but there is still no pain or any other weird sensation. Urahara must have been able to completely suppress whatever it is that Kayaba has been doing.

The earpiece that Urahara is wearing crackles.

Urahara taps on it.

“I have visual,” the voice of Yoruichi’s cat form issues from the earpiece.

“Hold your position,” Urahara replies in a sing-song voice, the carefree tone wildly incongruent with the deadly serious glint in his eyes. “There appears to be a dead man’s switch.” He pauses, looking between several screens simultaneously. “If his meatsuit dies before the game is cleared, all active NerveGears will be remotely detonated.”

That means – that means it’s all up to Ichigo.

He pushes himself to his feet, wobbling slightly. His sword has lost a good chunk of its durability after the fierce boss fight and subsequent fight with Kayaba, but what’s left should be enough to finish him off.

Ichigo takes a deep breath to steady himself and charges.

He feints, dodging Kayaba’s pre-emptive strike, and brings his sword in a low slash meant to take out Kayaba at the knees.

**IMMORTAL OBJECT**

It’s –

The impact is so jarring that Ichigo very nearly lets his sword go; it’s like he just swung at a _wall_. Except a wall would have broken in reality, whereas in this world it’s Ichigo who is forced back instead. He staggers back, his arms so numb he can’t even raise his sword, not even to save himself –

Kayaba’s sword comes down upon him with the force of a guillotine.

* * *

The ringing in his ears is so loud he can’t hear anything else, but he can see his HP bar dwindling steadily, creeping from green to yellow to orange to red.

He’s… failed.

He’s failed, and –

And…

His vision is greying out, and this time it’s not because of a status effect.

“Ichigo!” Urahara is shouting, abandoning his keyboard in favour of his earpiece. He doesn’t know what good it’ll do. If even Urahara can’t…

_Something_ sends a jolt shooting through him, like having a sword shoved through his chest again, like he’s getting _cardioverted_. It’s suddenly easier to breathe.

Ichigo looks down, half-expecting to see a sword sticking out of his chest, but there’s nothing but his usual in-game clothes. He’s felt this once before, he remembers.

_A Hollow rearing back, Karin and Yuzu in its clutches. A tiny black-haired woman standing in front of him, her sword aimed at his chest._

_“My name isn’t ‘Shinigami’, it’s ‘Kuchiki Rukia’.”_

Rukia. He can feel – but it’s not just her reiatsu in this sword. He can also sense Renji, Byakuya, Tōshirō, Kenpachi, Ikkaku, Hirako, Matsumoto, Unohana, Hanatarō, his Dad, Urahara, Yoruichi, and even the Captain-Commander –

Out of the corner of his eye, he can just barely see his HP bar stutter at a fraction above zero, and then begin filling back up.

“Show them, Ichigo –” now that his ears have stopped ringing, he can hear Urahara shouting again, “show them that there is no such thing as impossible, that despair isn’t enough to stop you!”

His hand wraps around the hilt of his sword and _swings_.

* * *

“As of June 17th, 15:17 PM, the game has been cleared.”

**Author's Note:**

> [cywscross's UraIchi Discord server](https://discordapp.com/invite/ADFnKTZ#_=_) | [Starrie's fic sneak preview server](https://discord.gg/8yJVmbD) | [Starrie's Tumblr](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com)


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